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Asian American Alliance Makes A Statement

By Bwog Staff on
May 09, 201387 Comments

Asian American Alliance

In a continuing stream of released statements today, we get one from student group AAA (Asian American Alliance, not the place you call when your car breaks down), with support from a huge number of student groups.

Below is their statement:

According to several news sources, an alleged hate crime occurred on Columbia University’s campus involving a number of Columbia students on Sunday, May 5, in which one student, a Black male athlete, allegedly called another, an Asian male, racial slurs and pushed him against a wall. As a consequence of the incident, the suspect faces criminal charges.

Columbia’s Asian American Alliance (AAA), along with a number of student leaders from across campus, have submitted statements to the Columbia University administration regarding our concerns and urging the university to take action. Furthermore, a number of us have met with members of the administration to discuss these concerns and urge the administration to act accordingly. We are thankful that the administration has been very responsive to our needs and are hopeful that they will continue to address the situation in a timely and thoughtful manner.

We are deeply concerned about the environment maintained on our campus. This is not an isolated event, nor should the perpetrator of this incident be treated as an anomaly. The fact that this incident occurred points to a systemic culture of hateful speech and action on Columbia’s campus, of which this incident is merely the latest manifestation.

We are also concerned about the racial dynamics of this incident. Anti-Asian racism is often socially dismissed through rhetoric such as the Model Minority Myth, “honorary whiteness,” and claims of post-racialism – all false ideas that serve to undercut and diminish the continued challenges that Asians face. We must also acknowledge that much of this rhetoric has hinged on particularly violent and pervasive ideas of anti-Blackness. Any form of minority-on-minority racism or discrimination represents a missed opportunity for solidarity across communities of color. In order to fight shared systems of oppression, it is important for the Asian community and the Black community to be in solidarity.

We must see this incident as a result of broader systemic issues of racism on our campus and in our society, and not vilify individuals involved in this specific case, or the communities those individuals represent.

Furthermore, there have been reports that this incident began with harassment against women. We cannot verify the validity of these reports at this time. However, even if this incident did not begin with instances of misogyny, we cannot diminish actions of sexism and misogyny by juxtaposing them against a race based hate crime. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other kinds of hatred and violence based on identity or social position reinforce one another. When we ignore or pardon sexual harassment in the face of “more gregious” incidents, it can serve as a catalyst to other hate crimes, like anti-Asian racism. Similarly, ignoring racist slurs and hateful speech can be a catalyst for sexual violence. If we gloss over any incident of hate, we risk perpetuating all practices of hate. We cannot tolerate any instance or any culture of racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, classism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other kinds of hate and violence on and off our campus.

We must take concrete steps to fight this pervasive and harmful culture. Appreciating diversity is not enough; diversity for diversity’s sake is not a strength but merely a statistic. We need to honestly examine the way that real patterns of oppression continue to exist and thrive in the structures of our campus community, and confront them with both dialogue and action. The presence of multiple colors, identities, and creeds in our community is meaningless until all students stand in solidarity against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of identity based discrimination and violence.

The Columbia administration and its programs, as well as the student body, must be held accountable to create radical anti-oppression, anti-hate and anti-violence programs throughout the university to combat a culture which can lead to these types of incidents. Some of the most tangible ways in which we can do this are through anti-oppression and anti-hate education.

We hope that in the coming months and semesters, the University will work with us to discuss and implement stronger programs and policies to combat this culture of hate and violence.

We also encourage our fellow students to have open, honest, and respectful dialogue about this incident. We will be working with the administration to open up spaces in which this dialogue can take place safely and positively, as well as creating forums to discuss the broader culture of racism, sexism, hate, and violence on our campus.

During this time, and through the coming weeks, we hope that the Columbia community and anyone experiencing any kind of hate and violence knows that they are not alone. We stand in solidarity with the victim of this attack, just as we stand in solidarity with the survivors of other forms of abuse that happen daily on this campus and in our society.

To all of those that have reached out to us in the past few days, we deeply appreciate all of the support and encouragement.

@Anonymous So you want to bar individuals from playing because of racist beliefs which most of them haven’t acted on. You say that sensitivity training (which is effectively the same thing as banning someone’s beliefs anyway) is not enough.

That’s called censorship. Take it to BYU.

Should Columbia have an Athletics Department? Absolutely not. But as long as we do, I don’t think that telling our athletes what they can think is a fair thing, and it sure doesn’t make me feel safe about advancing controversial opinions elsewhere on campus.

@Columbia College Being a student athlete is a privilege. Going to this University is a privilege. I am not an athlete, but I think that representing Columbia should be taken seriously. I didn’t create this petition, but I fully support it.

I also think that if you leave your social media account unprotected when it shows how homophobic and racist you are is honestly just fucking STUPID. Clearly these people think they are invincible because of the uniforms they wear, and perhaps this pedestal should be pulled from underneath them.

Perpetuating hatred is gross, and I don’t want the representatives of my school to be proud of their bigotry. The end.

@Anonymous Racism is not a “belief;” it is a prejudice formed by ignorance, fear, and ultimately hatred. While no one is calling for the brainwashing of students or faculty members who express racist ideas, calling the prevention and punishment of those ideas “censorship” is an insult to free speech.

@Anonymous Unfortunately the Columbia is founded on two conflicting principles: free speech and creating a community where no one is offended/feels discriminated upon. When you have a diverse student body (in the sense of students having many opposing opinions and beliefs), you really can’t have both. Certain people will naturally feel uncomfortable when confronting beliefs of other members of the community that are in opposition to theirs.

I would argue that it is very dangerous to eliminate the right for members to express their thoughts (provide they don’t act on them), which would occur if the other football players were punished. I feel it would lead to a situation where any opposing views to the conventional narrative would be suppressed.

@Anonymous I’m black and I’m gay. And I’m also not an athlete. I find the athletes’ tweets nd the violence repugnant. However, I think calling for their dismissal from teams and expulsion from college is at least hasty and at most inordinate. And it’s hypocritical of this bigger so called liberal section of the student body to criticize athletes for making group level, stereotyping racist jokes, but the broader student body is just as guilty for harboring prejudices against individuals and other groups. It’s so hypocritical and contradictory that amongst our friends we talk about how other individuals look: specific people’s appearance, weight, fashion, intelligence or lack thereof, yet when incidences, like the ones that have transpired lately, happen, which transform from individual into group level stereotypes, then it becomes a problem and we call for justice to be imposed on those accused. Yet if we examine our own thoughts and statements about individuals and groups, then we can see ourselves as not less racist or less bigoted. I call for anyone who’s never said anything bad or negative or hurtful about an individual, to cast the first stone at the football players.

@Anonymous And I would add that I am quite anxious and scared about instituting a policy where these athletes or anybody who behaves in such a manner are faced with such severe consequences because we are all placed at risk. Everyone in the western world is a racist. E west was built off of racism. No matter how liberal we think we are, no matter who you are or where you come from, if we deconstruct everyone’s minds and thought processes, we will find vestiges of racism. Racism is continually reinforced through culture and social structure. One is guilty of racism even in acts of omission. What’s really essential is that even though we all have aspects of racism in our selves, we need to try to find ways to confront it and deal with it in the best ways possible so we can coexist in a diverse, global world. So one of the best places for chad and the other athletes to be at is in college so that they can be exposed to other races and really understand the negative implications of their behavior, that’s the only way they can be rehabilitated. Expelling thm does nothing to help the cause of anti-racism or feminism. Wake up Columbia. These types of people e it’s. You’re not at different from them either. Expelling them only harms society because expulsion merely symbolizes the gesture that they were never students here, which creates a false image of this school: that nobody at Columbia is racist or sexist, when in fact, there are trace amounts of unconscious racism and sexism among all students.

@AAA member Thank you for the support, although AAA is not a cultural group; we see ourselves as a social justice organization whose mission is to “promote understanding, foster dialogue and create a sense of awareness within the Asian Pacific American community at Columbia University.”

@Individualist I am baffled as to why I’m supposed to believe their claims that the actions of a limited group of individuals represent a culture of systemic bias at Columbia. LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF STUDENT GROUPS WHO SIGNED ON TO YOUR OWN STATEMENT. Can we not just be proud that it is clear the culture of this university is NOT in favor of those statements? Proud that, at Columbia, the bigoted and biased are the true minority? Rather than slander the school as a whole, take pride in the fact that so many are willing to stand and denounce hate crimes, as they did by signing your statement- that is the true culture of this school.

@wc systemic bias is not just about blatant bigotry and racism, but is about larger and often harder to detect patterns of discrimination, both implied and explicit, that continue to inform the way we act day to day, and are ultimately the underpinnings for acts of hate. the critique is against these systems of oppression. just because groups have signed on doesn’t mean we’re above racism or discriminatory attitudes. this statement is not a statement of moral superiority, but rather a recognition that as community members, we are all in ways complicit in these forces and that we need awareness, solidarity, and action to eliminate them as much as possible.

@Individualist You make a point which may erroneously perceived as being a true response to my own.

Yet look at what the statement asks–

“combat this culture of hate and violence.”– any example provided will be an overt action.

“The fact that this incident occurred points to a systemic culture of hateful speech and action on Columbia’s campus, of which this incident is merely the latest manifestation.” — this, again, refers to overt actions, not your unproven “harder to detect pattern of discrimination.”

“The presence of multiple colors, identities, and creeds in our community is meaningless until all students stand in solidarity against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of identity based discrimination and violence.” — taking a stand, such as, the massive outcry that’s swept this campus against the statements.

My point is this: the fact that unconscious biases exist in all people has been well-established by psychology. But that is NOT what the statement was referencing, nor is it something that can be solved by the steps they want taken. You are right that people have unconscious biases, but wrong to devalue their conscious uproar against these statements. The culture of this school is a result of the actions taken by its students as moral agents, and that response has overwhelmingly been against discrimination.

@Anonymous Bigoted and biased are minorities? You are an idiot. This school is engulfed in undergraduate racism, classism, and status. Didn’t the Business school just segregate the library based on age/status? Its inherent with our faculty as well. It cannot be removed and doing dumb bureaucratic bullshit like labeling crime “hate crime” is part of the problem. Crime is crime. He didnt push him because he was Asian, the dumb kid stood up to a defensive lineman and almost got his ass beat. Thats not a racist crime, its just a crime. And dont pretend it doesnt exist, everyone reading this has said or thought what these players say against various other groups in their own space (like when you d-bags pick on GS and Barnard), his problem was getting caught. Just because you believe bigotry and bias is a minority here, doesnt exempt the idea of socioeconomic implications, or age-ism, or sexual orientation from being in the same group as racism at Columbia. The human ability to differentiate will never evolve out of a humanistic quality, its inherent, $45K a year and yall are too dumb to see the problem because you are part of it. If you made it to the end of this, call mommy and daddy and tell them you read alot and need another shopping spree (<—bigoted against richey rich)

@Anonymous “In order to fight shared systems of oppression, it is important for the Asian community and the Black community to be in solidarity”

What are these shared systems of oppression? Is it SOCIETY run by evil whites who systematically try to oppress the asian and black communities? Give me a break. It sounds like the person in charge of communications for AAA is writing an anthro paper.

@Anon I honestly think people are labeling things as “racist” far too liberally. Some of the tweets that have been pointed out are more an issue of misspecification of categories and mislabeling as in the one that read “Asian is such a fucked up language”. The player lumped together all Asian languages and made a judgment about them. The statement reflects poorly on him only because he did not make a distinction between the languages whether deliberate or because of ignorance. If he had wanted to make a judgment about a specific language, say Mandarin, I think he’d have been in all his right to do so. He could have said something like “Mandarin is an ugly language” if he didn’t like the phonetics of it, and I don’t think that would be racist; hate is not necessarily implicated in that statement. Similarly I’ve heard people say things like “Spanish is a grating language, I don’t like it”. So what? People aren’t obliged to like or appreciate everything you consider part of your identity. People aren’t obliged to be culturally enlightened.

“Language X is the language of fucktards”, on the other hand, would be a more reprehensible, racist statement.

@Anon When you’re going to accuse someone of racist tweets, you best make sure that all the tweets you’re including in your citation meet that criteria. There has to be some consistency in what you’re saying is racism, otherwise it would seem that at least one ,but not all of the tweets made you indignant and you risk seeming like you’re only using the collection of “racist” tweets as an excuse to vilify someone you may not have liked in the first place (student-athletes).

@Props To that one “gay nigga with make up on” who simultaneously manages to be in every high-end clothing store. If only these football players had his speed and multi-tasking ability, maybe then they’d actually: a). win a game and b). have figured out how to protect their tweets before this whole shitstorm blew in.

@Anonymous His tweet was perceived as racist because there was absolutely no sensitivity in his actions. Do you really believes he is so ignorant that he doesn’t know that “Asian” is not a language? Moreover, he isn’t saying “I think Spanish is prettier than French” or “I don’t like the sound of Russian”, but rather “Asian is fucked up”. He clearly tweeted for the sake of shocking his followers, perhaps in a joking manner, but racist nonetheless.

@Only part I disagree with “We must see this incident as a result of broader systemic issues of racism on our campus and in our society, and not vilify individuals involved in this specific case…”

Specifically the second bit. Just because this incident is part of a larger issue doesn’t mean we shouldn’t criticize those who perpetuate said issue. Chad Washington is a thuggish, moronic douchebag who does not deserve to be a part of this university. I hope they expel this fuck.

@Anonymous this: “Anti-Asian racism is often socially dismissed through rhetoric such as the Model Minority Myth, “honorary whiteness,” and claims of post-racialism…”

as an asian american, i’ve encountered so much casual, yet active racism (in NYC, even) from strangers, and even from my own friends – all expressed in a tone in which they think it’s “acceptable,” unlike anti-Black, anti-Latino, etc. racism.

e.g. If I’m walking with a group of only other Asians, people on the streets -especially OTHER minorities – will heckle us, condemning us for hanging out only with other Asians, shouting “nihaomas” and “konnichiwas” and fucking “ching chongs” at us, and obviously accusing us of different stereotypes.

with Asians having been associated with stereotypical depictions of submissiveness/meekness, it’s become so common for others to make offensive anti-Asian remarks – and to such an aggressive extent – thinking that it’ll go unchallenged. and that’s a belief that’s become so systemically ingrained, that people feel it’s okay to say marginalizing shit to my face.

@CC'14 I have seen this happen many times, and it came out of friends whom I did not expect such behavior at all. I wish I had spoken against it, but at the time I tried to fit and just laugh or just move on.

@Question This article and all others I have read seem to imply this was an unprovoked instance. Because this is an isolated event (I haven’t regularly seen Asians plastered on walls around campus), it leads me to believe that these actions (while completely unnecessary and inappropriate) were provoked. Anyone have any idea what kind of words were exchanged before the incident or other possible cause?

@Question That was not my question, nor my point. I simply would like to know the context. Premeditated murder is much more serious than manslaughter, even though they appear the same before context is given to the situation. If this incident occurred for no reason other than pure hatred of the opposing party (which I would hope we are all rational enough to question), then the situation is much more serious. The fact that the derogatory comments were uttered as he threatened to beat him up suggests he was provoked. Had it been out of pure hatred, he would have just beaten him up. A little context would be nice, just sayin’

@for the record the attack wasnt “provoked” by violence – if you’d read any of the reports you’d see that chad was verbally harrassing the victim’s two female friends, the victim told chad to stop, and chad attacked him. so, like, if standing up to some guy who’s making your friends feel uncomfortable is “provocation” deserving of being called racist slurs and pinned to a wall by a guy twice as big as you you’re totally right bruh

@Oh pious liberals I hope your realize that your rhetoric is sounding like that of the Christian Evangelicals you criticize so much. It’s as if you wanted individuals to purge all “impure” thoughts from their heads. It almost sounds like in some of the comments you’re calling for a witch-hunt “Yeah! Incarcerate him, expel him.”Is that commensurate with what actually happened?

I think of the confrontation between Chad and the other student as one that escalated and lead to violence, and in addition to that racial slurs were uttered. But to say that hate towards Asians is the motive of the crime, or that this is reflective of a culture of campus-wide “systemic hate” is absurd.

This letter just seems like a hodgepodge of sophistry, and I would be wary of AAA trying to exact privileges and concessions from the university by invoking an imaginary oppressor. There are ego-hungry individuals there who might be anxious to position themselves as the “champions of good”.

@Agreed I just think the reaction is so absurd because of how the whole thing started. The media was given a completely one-sided account of events, and all the commenters just assume that the Asian guy has to be correct and the big black guy has to be wrong. That may be the case, but does anyone really know? What if the Asian guy kicked the black guy in the balls and started the whole thing? We don’t know yet because we haven’t been given the other side of the story.

Now the same people who made a racially motivated rush to judgement are lecturing everyone else about the horrible problem of pervasive racism. The whole thing is just such an ridiculous farce.

@because it's ok because getting kicked in the balls (which absolutely didn’t happen) means it’s ok to say racially hateful things and beat a guy up. hell, everyone is forgetting that this was an ATTACK not self-defense.

even if the asian guy did try to start a fight with the MUCH PHYSICALLY BIGGER BLACK GUY, the responsible thing to do would have been to just walk away and be the better “man” that he claims playing football has allowed him to be. if someone says or does something douchey to me, i still don’t have the right to call him racial slurs, beat him up and then expect everyone to be sympathetic to me.

@Anon Identity politics, and all that language of “privilege”, “power”, “heteronormativity”, “systemic oppression”, etc. will be the death of intellectualism. It’s does not strive towards truth, it merely corrupts academics by mixing in politics and the desire of factions to say that some worldview obtains only because it is in their interest.

@CC '10 Just wondering, is there a term for this wave of social justice thought yet?

When I was an undergrad people were still just as concerned about these issues, but the language had way more in common with what my parents would have heard, what’s commonly derided as “politically correct.” I don’t think I’d heard “people of color” or “privilege” in the sense that it means now until after I graduated.

@Anonymous One point missed is this is not unique to Columbia in any way. Ironically these types of racial slurs and stereotypes probably occur less at Columbia than in any typical TV show, movie, song, book, video game, etc.

@Bullshit Why is Columbia filled with such pussies? this shit happens all the time, toughen the fuck up. People are entitled to say whatever the fuck they want, whether it be racist, anti-semetic, sexiest, it is under their first amendment right. So just shutup, and go get some free egg drop soup or noodles or whatever the fuck you eat. Tweeting shit like this is not a hate crime. For all you ignorant people here is the definition of a hate crime:

A hate crime is usually defined by state law as one that involves threats, harassment, or physical harm and is motivated by prejudice against someone’s race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability

@Anonymous Regardless of whether or not anti-Asian sentiments were part of Chad’s motivation, his racism towards Asians helped (in his mind) to justify his actions. And that’s what the problem is. Unless you fit into a group that has to combat the daily realities of white and/or male and/or hetero and/or any other type of societal privilege, you really have no right to claim that there is no “culture of campus-wide ‘systemic culture'” of hate. Someone who benefits from these modes of privilege literally have no concept of how they adversely affect people. But anyways..

In response to the fact that this was a natural result of a two-sided confrontation, there is already context given that states that Chad and his friends were harassing two women that were walking with the victim. The victim was trying to stop it when he was subjected to Chad’s nonsense. In other words, Chad and his cronies provoked it.

Yes, people will be prejudiced and biased against certain people based on their experiences. It’s a natural occurrence. But that doesn’t entitle you to be an asshole towards other people solely based off of that prejudice. Especially as a place as diverse as Columbia and a city as diverse as New York, you should try to at least learn about the other people you share this space with. I’m glad that the AAA put forth this statement and that a real and meaningful discussion is taking place about this incident.

@BC '14 The misognyny of this incident needs to be given much more attention that in has been given so far; even this statement, which of the three is the only one to mention that the altercation started with sexual harassment, explains that sexual harassment is concerning because of its relationship with other identity-based harassment.

@SEAS '14 The one thing that I do not like about this letter is that they brought up the alleged hater’s “blackness” and then proceded to make this about the “Black” population as a whole and minority-minority relations. This is one person who allegedly assault another person on the pretense of the victims perceived nationality. I have skin of a shade close to caramel toffee but I rather identify myself as African American or more specifically to my origin, not simply “black” because that is easy for you to call me from what you see.

I am deeply disappointed that so many people signed this document without bringing this into question. Otherwise, I appreciate a group of people coming together and speaking up about the incident.